✍️ Plus and Equals Sign Trace

About Plus and Equals Sign Trace

Children meet the plus and equals signs long before anyone teaches them how to write one, and the result is a surprising number of five-year-olds who can add but whose written work is unreadable. This worksheet treats the symbols as what they are for a toddler: shapes with a stroke order. Each row shows one symbol as a large faint outline to trace, followed by three copy boxes for freehand attempts. The symbols are drawn as clean geometry rather than typed characters, so the strokes are the same generous weight every time and there is nothing fussy for a small hand to aim at. The levels raise the vocabulary rather than the workload: the Easy level practises only plus and equals, the Basic level introduces minus, and the upper levels shuffle the order so a child cannot complete the page from position memory alone. Six symbols appear on every level, so the page length never changes. Each level prints as a clean A4 sheet in black and white with wide spacing, and downloads with its own answer key naming each symbol. Pair it with Add One More Cookie, where the plus idea is put to work on screen.

Common questions

Why teach the symbols separately from sums?

Children meet plus and equals long before anyone shows them how to write one. Separating the handwriting from the arithmetic means neither gets in the way of the other.

What changes between the levels?

The Easy level practises plus and equals only, Basic adds minus, and the upper levels shuffle the order so the page cannot be finished from memory.

How many symbols are on a page?

Six on every level, so the page length is the same whichever level you print.

Is an answer key included?

Yes. Every level downloads with its own key naming each symbol.